Buono’s cam­paign “ex­pressed no dis­ap­point­ment with the news Fri­day, and it em­phas­ized that the White House has not ruled out an ap­pear­ance with Buono — one just isn’t cur­rently planned.” (Ber­gen Re­cord)

HE’S NOT THE ONLY ONE: Na­tion­al Demo­crats “largely taken a pass” on the race, “de­cid­ing their money is bet­ter spent else­where or that there are more in­vit­ing tar­gets at the mo­ment than a Re­pub­lic­an who em­braced” Obama last year in the wake of Hur­ricane Sandy. “The Demo­crat­ic Na­tion­al Com­mit­tee, which is still op­er­at­ing in the red and without an ex­ec­ut­ive dir­ect­or, has not made a ma­jor in­vest­ment there. Or­gan­iz­ing for Ac­tion, the rollover of Pres­id­ent Obama’s cam­paign ap­par­at­us, is adam­ant that it’s not do­ing par­tis­an polit­ics and hasn’t got­ten in­volved, either. … The Demo­crat­ic Gov­ernors As­so­ci­ation is un­likely to in­vest in the race un­less it gets close — which is not im­possible, but hard to see hap­pen­ing with about 80 days left. And there’s little evid­ence the group sees its mis­sion as knee-cap­ping a po­ten­tial 2016 front-run­ner.” (Politico)

Buono wasn’t the first choice of the state or na­tion­al party. After Ne­wark May­or Cory Book­er (D) and sev­er­al oth­er Demo­crats passed on the race, she emerged as the con­sensus can­did­ate by de­fault. Giv­en that and Christie’s huge ad­vant­age in the polls, it’s no sur­prise that she’s re­ceiv­ing lim­ited help. But Demo­crats are miss­ing out a golden op­por­tun­ity to stunt Christie’s mo­mentum as he pre­pares for a 2016 pres­id­en­tial run.

FIRST TIME, LONG TIME: Christie guest-hos­ted WFAN’s “Boomer & Car­ton” show on Monday. Christie is filling in for host Boomer Esais­on, who is on va­ca­tion. The gov­ernor, “a fre­quent caller to the Boomer & Car­ton pro­gram,” pre­vi­ously guest-hos­ted in May, 2011. (WFAN)— Kev­in Bren­nan

"President Trump signed a sweeping spending bill Friday afternoon, averting another partial government shutdown. The action came after Trump had declared a national emergency in a move designed to circumvent Congress and build additional barriers at the southern border, where he said the United States faces 'an invasion of our country.'"

Source:

REDIRECTS $8 BILLION

Trump Declares National Emergency

6 days ago

THE DETAILS

"President Donald Trump on Friday declared a state of emergency on the southern border and immediately direct $8 billion to construct or repair as many as 234 miles of a border barrier. The move — which is sure to invite vigorous legal challenges from activists and government officials — comes after Trump failed to get the $5.7 billion he was seeking from lawmakers. Instead, Trump agreed to sign a deal that included just $1.375 for border security."

Source:

COULD SOW DIVISION AMONG REPUBLICANS

House Will Condemn Emergency Declaration

1 weeks ago

THE DETAILS

"House Democrats are gearing up to pass a joint resolution disapproving of President Trump’s emergency declaration to build his U.S.-Mexico border wall, a move that will force Senate Republicans to vote on a contentious issue that divides their party. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Thursday evening in an interview with The Washington Post that the House would take up the resolution in the coming days or weeks. The measure is expected to easily clear the Democratic-led House, and because it would be privileged, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would be forced to put the resolution to a vote that he could lose."

Source:

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, DRUG FORFEITURE FUND

Where Will the Emergency Money Come From?

1 weeks ago

THE DETAILS

"ABC News has learned the president plans to announce on Friday his intention to spend about $8 billion on the border wall with a mix of spending from Congressional appropriations approved Thursday night, executive action and an emergency declaration. A senior White House official familiar with the plan told ABC News that $1.375 billion would come from the spending bill Congress passed Thursday; $600 million would come from the Treasury Department's drug forfeiture fund; $2.5 billion would come from the Pentagon's drug interdiction program; and through an emergency declaration: $3.5 billion from the Pentagon's military construction budget."

Source:

TRUMP SAYS HE WILL SIGN

House Passes Funding Deal

1 weeks ago

THE DETAILS

"The House passed a massive border and budget bill that would avert a shutdown and keep the government funded through the end of September. The Senate passed the measure earlier Thursday. The bill provides $1.375 billion for fences, far short of the $5.7 billion President Trump had demanded to fund steel walls. But the president says he will sign the legislation, and instead seek to fund his border wall by declaring a national emergency."